1. Section 11.2

2. Religious Tolerance and Conflict The Romans did not insist on imposing their beliefs on others. Roman would often adopt the gods of other cultures they conquered. In order to avoid offending any god, the Romans prayed to a wide variety of gods and goddesses. The Romans would only ban a religion when they thought that it would become a political problem.

3. Clashes with the Jews Clashes with Judaism- Since the Jews refused to worship any god but their own, some Romans thought the Jews insulted Rome’s gods by not praying to them. The Jews caused trouble by rebelling against Roman rule. The Jews were never successful. Emperor Hadrian banned Judaism from being practiced in the Empire. Jews revolted, lost, and were forced out of Rome.

4. A New Religion Christianity- The religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. Jesus was considered to be the Messiah or “God’s Annointed One” by the Christians. Jesus lived at the beginning of the first century AD. His birth marks the shift from BC to AD. By the age of 30 Jesus had started to travel and teach about religion.

5. Jesus of Nazareth The stories of his actions are written in the New Testament in the Christian bible. Jesus’ teaching challenged the authority of political and religious leaders. According to the Bible, Jesus was arrested around the year AD 30. Shortly after his arrest, Jesus was executed by crucifixion. It is the type of execution which a person was nailed to a cross.

6. Resurrection According to Christian beliefs, Jesus rose from the dead three days after he was crucified. This rise from the dead is known as the Resurrection in Christianity. After the Resurrection, Jesus’ Apostles traveled widely telling about Jesus and his teachings. At first Christianity was spread only among Jews.

7. Messiah Early Christians believe that the Resurrection was a sign that Jesus was the son of God. Some people began to call him Jesus Christ, from the Greek word for Messiah, christos It is from this word that the words Christian and Christianity later developed.

8. Christianity Within a hundred years of Jesus’ death, there were thousands of Christians in the Roman Empire. Christianity became a problem and was persecuted until Emperor Constantine became Christian himself. A later Emperor declared Christianity Rome’s official religion.